MASON CITY – The Mason City School District is administering “Iowa Assessments” this week.
The tests were formerly known as the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.
“These tests are one of the components that the district uses in determining and reporting student achievement,” the district explained on its website.
The Iowa Department of Education says the tests include both formative and summative assessments.
“The results of the assessments are used by all stakeholders to make program, staffing, professional development, instructional, financial, and personal decisions. They are an important component of both the Collecting/Analyzing Student data step and the On-going Data Collection step in the Iowa Professional Development Model.”
The tests are required by law, defined in the “No Child Left Behind” legislation.
“State-wide and district-wide summative assessments are mandated by Iowa Code (Chapter 12) and used for district accreditation and federal reporting,” the Iowa Department of Education said.